Academy Starts Body Composition Testing on About 420 Athletes

The Academy is beginning testing on about 420 male and female athletes in its Human Performance Lab as part of a major research project studying body composition.

Dr. Jordan Moon, Department Head of Sports Fitness and Health, and Dr. Enrico Esposito, Chair of Sports Medicine, are heading up the projects for the Academy that is examining more than a dozen devices and techniques that measure body composition to determine which ones are the most accurate.

“This data will help those athletes and athletes all over the world to help choose which devices are more accurate measurements of body composition,” Dr. Moon says. “The validity and accuracy of many devices are unknown for most athletes because athletes’ bodies are more developed and different from the average persons.”

For its investigation the Academy is seeking about 420 males and females between the ages of 14 and 65 to volunteer to undergo testing. Athletes will go through the approximately 4.5 hours of testing during one visit and will receive more than $500 worth of testing for free.

In addition, the athletes will be provided detailed information about their body fat, muscle mass, as well as segmental fat and muscle mass, such as the amount of muscle in their legs, arms, trunk, etc. They will also learn the precise amount of calories they should be eating if they want to gain muscle or lose fat. This information will be invaluable to helping develop their nutrition and training regimens and to determining their effectiveness, Moon says.

Among other purposes of the study are to develop new algorithms (fat mass, fat-free mass and total body water) for some bioelectrical impedance devices.

Already a Mobile-area rugby club and the University of South Alabama track and cross country team have athletes scheduled for testing. Slots are filling up fast but more volunteers are needed to complete the study that ends in April. Groups, teams and elite athletes are encouraged to come in for the testing that is being conducted mostly on the weekends, but weekdays are also a possibility.

For more information or to sign up for the study, please contact research@ussa.edu or call 251-626-3303 ext. 7155. Don’t let this great opportunity pass you by.